I will share new products that I find to help our families affected with Autism and news stories that I find interesting.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

ASU researchers use fecal transplants to help gastrointestinal problems with autism patients

It's the first study of its kind in the world.
Researchers at Arizona State University are using fecal transplants to treat those with autism.

Gastrointestinal problems are common in people with autism, effecting nearly one third of them.

"It's very hard to treat and it's a huge problem for them if you have
a 16 year old still in diapers because they can't control their bowel movements. It really effects their quality of life," said Dr. James Adams, Director of ASU Autism Research Program.

So scientists, like Adams, began focusing on younger autism patients.

Each
week, researchers took fecal samples from healthy patients and then
implanted those purified samples into those with autism.

"So what
we found in kids with autism is that they're missing about 200 to 300
species of gut bacteria that play a lot of important roles like
producing vitamins and help fight off harmful bacteria," said Dr. Adams.

The results from this new research are astounding.

Not
only did they see an 80 percent improvement in gastrointestinal
discomfort, but nearly 25 percent of autism patients saw an improvement
in certain autism behaviors, including social and sleep habits.